Sword Art Online: The Black Wolf And a Night-Angel
by Corronite
Summary: Tatsuki, a young player who entered SAO to have fun. Thrax, a young player who entered SAO to escape reality . Follow these two boys as they survive and make a name for themselves. Contains OCs (Temporary title till I can think of a better one.)
1. Chapter 1: there's always a beginning

**EDIT: for those who have already read this chapter please re-read it, i've corrected most of my mistakes and also added an entire new section. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or the related characters, only my OCs,**

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

**Tatsuya "Tastsuki" Matsuki**

I glanced at my clock and immediately grinned before plopping my body onto my bed, lifted the helmet like NerveGear; a new kind of console that played VR games, yes you heard me right, Virtual-reality. Placing it on my head I uttered the only magic words that worked in this world. "_Link-Start_" my vision turned blank then white. Multiple circles appeared portraying the progress of system checks until they finished.  
A log-in screen appeared which was rapidly filled, a second screen appeared asking whether to use an already existing appearance data. I choose yes.

It took only a matter of seconds for my vision to return and it was filled with a whole new word, Aincrad.

I smirked before running to the closest field, my cousin Kazuto, although he goes by Kirito In this game had also logged in and we promised to meet there.  
My avatar was similar to my real appearance... Well more like, only in the height department. Compared to most others I'm quite short and being short had it advantages, such as, a smaller hit-box.  
As I was running I passed a small vendor and a certain item caught my eye, a hooded cloak, it wasn't terribly big however it reminded me of my old one back in the beta-test.

Checking the price tag I made a scowl, it was way out of my price range and even if I were to spend every dime I still wouldn't have enough so sadly I walked away and headed towards the hunting fields.

It only took a few minutes of running and ducking into and out of alleys before I reached the large expanse of grassy fields. There were many player out there and it took a while but I finally found Kirito's avatar, along with someone he was partying with.  
It looked like he were teaching... Before he kicked the guy in the balls...  
I walked up to the two and waved my hand "Oi! Kirito, guy I don't know!" The two of them looked in my direction, now I was closer it was much easier to see them. Kirito's avatar hadn't changed since the beta test, a handsome and tall teen with black hair, the others guy had red hair kept up by a bandana.

Kirito waved back. "What took you so long?!" He yelled.  
"Er... I... May.. Have been caught up with a cloak..." he just laughed in response.  
"You were trying to regain your old appearance or at-least as close as possible, right?"  
"Guilty as charged.." I grinned. The other guy had listened in on the conversation visibly confused. "The names Ghost, you?" Kirito seemed confused however he took only seconds before returning to normal.  
"Hmm? Oh, I'm Klein, if you don't mind me asking, how do you two know each other?" That was a very simple and easy to answer question. "We were both In the beta test and often partied, oh that an we're cousins"  
"Seriously!? You were also in the beta test? "I simply nodded in reply, only 1,000 or do players got in so it's not that surprising to find that he's surprised, I mean, I would be if I met two beta testers in one day.

I turned to Kirito with an inquiring gaze, he noticed this and explained "he asked me to teach him" well, that explains it. I noticed Klein beginning to mess with his blade and performing Sword-Skills, system set moves that you perform with the help of system-assist.  
"Pretty cool huh" I said, Klein nodded his head.  
"Hey, would you two like to meet some of my friends from another game?"  
Kirito lowered his head, he never was very sociable so I replied for him. "Although that sounds fun Kirito here isn't very big on socializing" I grabbed his head putting him in a lock whilst giving him a nudgie.  
"Oh well, if you don't want to then that's fine, maybe some other time?" I replied with a nod of my head. "Wanna continue hunting for a bit? We could both show you some things?"  
"I'd love to however, my pizza's gonna be here in a minute"  
"Oh.. Alright then" replied Kirito, he mostly returned to being normal only a slight loss in confidence.  
We were just about to turn away when we heard Klein "where'd it go?" We turned around to look at out red-haired friend. "Where'd what go?"  
"The log out button"  
"It's in the menu" spoke kirito "look" he switched his menu to public allowing us to see and scrolled down to the log out button.

_It was missing_

I checked mine which returned the exact same result. _What going on, whats happening, this can't be right_. These thoughts of mine were swerving around never-ceasing. "L-let's C-call the game master" I stuttered, I was scared, I've never been good with small places because of my fear of never getting out and although this wasn't so bad, I mean, I rather be trapped in a game than an elevator however I still had fear. Hopefully this'll just blow over.

"I already did"replied Klein scratching his head "but he didn't answer, I bet the server people are panicking right now!" he joked.  
"And soon you too, it's almost five"  
"Nooo! My teriyaki pizza and Ginger ale! Are there any other ways to log out!"  
"No, there was no other way, not even an emergency log out was mentioned in the manual"  
"I know, maybe if I try to take the nerve gear off my head!"Klein tried al sorts of things from physically moving his body and speaking words like 'log out' or 'Exit'  
"That's not going to work" I said, finally regaining my composure. "The only way to log out is going through the menu or someone on the outside taking it off of you"  
"I live alone what about you two?" He asked. Kirito was the first to respond.  
"I live with my mother and sister so they will probably notice something is off"  
"I live with my mom and dad and sometime my sister when she comes home... Only, they're off on a business trip and my sis is off at uni..." However, none of this seemed to reach Kleins ears. He jumped froward and grabbed my shoulders.

"How old is she!"  
"W-what? I'm s-sorry but she already has a er... Boyfriend." It looked like Klein had been kicked in the gut, although it didn't last long. He perked up and grabbed kirito. "You also said you have a sister!"  
"Y-yeah! but she's into sports and totally hates games! she'd never go out with a gamer." However Klein continued to press forward.  
"I don't care just introduce me!" apparently kirito had enough and kicked Klein in the er... Balls. He fell over clutching his private area until he realized "oh that's right no pain"

"No, but seriously, if the log out button is missing then this could cause serious damage to the games future" kirito fell into thought until I pointed out  
"But couldn't the GMs just reset the server?"  
"I suppose however I would have thought that they'd have done so already"  
I was about to open my mouth when a loud ringing echoed and the space around me became a bright light blue, it was so damn bright I was forced to close my eyes and when I opened them. I'm back in the plaza...

It appeared that every player that had logged in was here, I heard the oh so familiar voice from beside me "Forced teleport..." Of course, it was only then that the sky was filled with blood red and looking closely one could make out 'System message'  
Written over and over, this covered the entire sky and I expected to hear the voice of a GM. However, what happened next surprised me. A crimson red liquid that looked an awful lot like blood tricked out of the sky and slowly became a clocked figure.

"Players" it boomed "I welcome you to Sword Art Online, as some of you have most likely noticed the log-out button is missing from your menus and I'd like to erasure you that this is not a bug, but a feature" there were many gasps and shouts "what the hell do you mean!" One of them said. Kirito and Klein next to me began to mutter however I ignored them, I was more interested in what the clocked figure had to say. However, before he continued I blacked out.

* * *

**Alex "Thrax" Spencer**

"...Also, if you die here, you die in real-life, the sensors in the NerveGear will fry your brain, effectively killing you "  
No, no, no... This can't be happening, I mean, seriously! Although I don't exactly mind being stuck here, I still have a life! Even if it's full of shit, In just a few years time I would have been rid of those bullies, but now? stuck here for who knows how-long. I noticed a single player falling unconscious, possibly from the shock of what's happening but I couldn't think of that now, luckily two of the player he was standing beside Caught him.

"I've sent a gift from me to you, it should be in your inventories right about now."  
What could he have possibly given us? I swiped my right hand down with my index-finger touching my thumb which opened my menu, navigated to my inventory and selected the items option which opened up a new window that would contain miscellaneous items.  
Only one item was there. 'Hand-Mirror'. I clicked on it, materializing the item that was just the size of my palm.  
"The hell... Do I do with this?" I muttered. It was then I became covered in a bright azure light. "W-what the!" I yelled out in surprise and as soon as it faded I looked back into the mirror.

What I saw next shocked me. The face that stared back at me was not that if my avatar but my own. The face I was born with.  
Azure eyes and blonde hair of a foreigner. I wasn't ugly but at the same time not handsome, just average. I was bullied at school because I'm not Japanese but British.. Looking around the female population had dramatically dropped. Remembering back I had but one friend, but he disappeared when I moved to a new town for my fathers work. I wonder if he's here? No, that's a stupid question, of course he is, he was in the beta from what he told me so it would be more unlikely that he wasn't here

"Now you may be wondering, why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko create such a game, the answer to that is simple. To create a world, and interfere with it."  
What...  
"Sadly, just under three hundred players have logged out if this world, and consequently, real life." Screens floated around the cloaked figure showing that of news sights and broadcasts. "Is this some kind of joke!" A player yelled.  
"Thus this ends the tutorial of Sword Art Online, players I wish you the best of luck."  
The barriers that enclosed all players in this plaza came down and many players collapsed on the spot, crying and wailing.

The first thing I decided was that I had to get out. I noticed those same players who supported their collapsed friend run out of the plaza. Did they have the same idea as me? Only one way to find out. I slowly made my way through the sea of people and found the Red-haired guy run off back to the plaza and the short boy with black hair who was likely to be fourteen running off with the un-conscience boy. I doubted that he had used the hand mirror yet so I couldn't be sure if he really was a guy.

I followed in behind them following in the shadows until I reached the outer wall.  
"Who's there!" He yelled. I stepped out of the shadows with my hands up. His expression relaxed from being tense to friendly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you anxious... I just... You seemed to know where your going and I decided to follow, this is my first day and I guessed wear ever you were going would be better than back there" I said with my face down and my bangs shadowing my eyes.

"Why didn't you say so" he grinned. "I could use some use some help, getting somewhere at level one and a lugging this guy on my back is t really ideal." I lifted my head. "Thanks" he began to run again and I followed shortly after only this time a few steps behind him. Entering the field i unsheathed my knife. The blade was simple with and could be thought of as a miniature sword with a star like hilt.

We ran on the path until we reached a wolf, with the black-haired boy and his hands full the responsibility fell to me. I dashed forward and activated the sword skill dice. The blade of my Knife glowed light blue before I did a forward somersault and before biting the ground slashed at the wolf's rear, forcing it to shatter into polygons and disappear.  
"I'm not going to die here!" I yelled, I felt as tho a massive weight had been lifted and decide in my heart that I wouldn't make light of my declaration.

Around half hour later we reached the next town 'Horunka'.  
"Hey, do you want to form a party with me? I'm sure you'll survive with us, me and my cousin here are Former-Beta testers so..." I was silent for a minute, I wanted to however... I didn't want to be a liability.  
"I.. Thank you for the offer but, not now. I'm gonna complete some quests that involve running around town before I do anything else..." He seemed disappointed. "How about we add each other on our friends list, that way if I change my mind I can contact you easily"

He smiled, "sure..."  
From there I ran off to find the closest NPC so I could begin my adventure.

* * *

**Welp, the names Corro, thank you for reading my first SAO fic, if I've gotten anything wrong then Feel free to say so, I haven't really been reading/watching SAO for ages and only just returned to it when I found out that S2 was out this year(HELL YEAH!) so yeah.**

**Just to let you know, this is gonna fit in with the cannon however some events will be changed so that it's Tatsuki and not Kirito (only one) whilst the rest will most likely change close to nothing but will also include Tatsuki as well, if you're wondering why he introduced himself as Ghost theirs a simple reason. 1: he was originally named Ghost... 2: to add some back story he used to call himself Ghost because of a certain friend... try to guess who.  
**

**oh, and if the conversations are different to the cannon it's because I'm being lazy...**


	2. Chapter 2: Shadows Apprentice

**Tatsuya "Tastsuki" Matsuki**

My eyes reluctantly opened and the un-familiar ceiling came into view. I tried lifting my body out of the covers and although it was screaming for sleep it complied. "W-where am I..." Speaking to know one in particular I looked around, not sure of what I would find.  
A small recording crystal entered my sight. I managed to get out of bed and tap it, forcing it to play its message.  
"Use the hand mirror that's in your inventory, oh, and when your feeling awake enough come down and have some food" the voice belonged to kirito and once again I was thankful that I wasn't alone in this world, well, for now at least.

Opening my inventory I found only a few items, two of which I hadn't had before however before doing anything else I used the hand mirror.  
My body was encased in the familiar light blue glow that I experienced before hand but I never expected what was to come, looking down at the mirror I found my face not my avatar's but my own. My hair was midnight black just like my eyes.  
My height hadn't changed much, then again it was the only thing that was true about my avatar self.  
"Jesus Christ... What is going on?" That was when it finally hit me. I'm still in the game! I began to panic but somehow stopped it. Opening my inventory I used the other item that was unfamiliar. A small book.

The book's cover had the scarlet wolf of midnight written over it along with an emblem resembling a howling wolf and opening the book revealed that it were a novel of some kind. I don't remember picking this up.. Well whatever, I placed it back in my inventory and opened the door heading downstairs I was greeted by a ton of noise, guess this is an inn...

I noticed a familiar Raven haired boy and tapped him on the shoulder. Kirito turned around and smiled, his face had also changed to how he really looked, he actually looked fairly feminine, for a boy. "Tatsu, It's good to see your finally awake but what happened?" he said. I noticed he was gazing at the book in my hand. "And where'd you get that?"  
"Well, first,I haven't a single clue about either of those two questions" I grinned.  
"I just found this book in my inventory after looking at that stupid mirror, why didn't you tell me it would do that!"  
"If I did you wouldn't have used it, would you "  
"G-guilty as charged."  
"Come on, sit down and I'll get us something to eat, oh and by the way, why did you tell Klein your name is Ghost when your name here's Tatsuki?"  
"Force of Habit... I've only recently started using Tatsuki. So I still automatically call myself Ghost..."  
"Either way, next time you see him, tell him your True IGN "  
"Sure... Where are we anyway?"  
"The next town over from the 'Village of Beginning', I carried you on my back"  
"Seriously!? I really owe you one then" never expected to be in 'Horunka' "do you know when we'll be able to log out?" The question seemed to depress Kirito but never the less he still replied. "We have to complete all one hundred floors... And clear the game" I was at a loss for words, we... Have to complete every floor...  
I slumped in my seat... "We could be here for years... So how long was I out for anyway?"  
"About a day so not that long..."  
"Right... Let's get something to eat then."  
"Alright, after that we should begin to level ourselves otherwise there would have been no point out coming here."  
"Good idea."

A few hours later and me and kirito were lying down on a grassy hill after fighting some Mobs, he had already fallen asleep for a short nap so I pulled out the mysterious book.  
The inside of the cover had the introduction, I read thorough it quickly and was about to skip until I found some kind of contract?  
The main body was in a strange language yet the bottom had 'signature' and a long bar that was obviously where I had to write my name... Only problem was I had absolutely nothing to write with.  
I rubbed the line with my finger till it hit me. This is a game, who needs ink when you can type. I tapped the line hoping to see a keyboard and I was right. A holographic keyboard that emitted light making it possible to see it anywhere yet mysteriously didn't affect the environment...

Moving my fingers swiftly over the keyboard I typed my user name and hit enter.  
As soon as I did so the keyboard disappeared and the book now had my name in it.  
This triggered an affect where some of the words that were originally unreadable became readable.

_'The owner of this book shall learn the ways of a true Beast-Tamer, if this section is readable then you should have received a new skill, you needn't worry as this doesn't take up any skill slots you would have had free and is an Extra-Skill. Make sure to read the book completely before you reach any higher floors. as the skill progresses more of these pages will be unlocked and become readable but to you only._

_A word of advice, when approaching animal type mobs proceed with weapons hidden.'_

This is... Strange to say the least...  
Looking out to the field I noticed some of the mobs we had been killing, Boars.  
And decided to try it out.  
Un-equipping my sword I tapped Kirito on the shoulder "..mmm what is it..?" He asked as he lifted his body and groggily rubbed his eyes.  
"I wanna try something but its dangerous alone"  
"What do you want to try?" I hesitated before I spoke.  
"Approaching the Boars without a weapon" this woke him up and he instantly grabbed my shoulders. "That's suicide!"  
"That's what I thought, however that's what it says in the book"  
"And you believe it!"  
"I know it sounds dangerous but just let me do it, okay? If it attacks me straight away then I'll never do it again."  
"Fine..." I grinned and walked towards the boars, kirito in two at a small distance but staying out of the Boars detection range.

They didn't attack no matter how close I got, they looked at me curiously and slowly approached me. I reached my hand out toward the boar yet it still didn't stop, it came in reach of my hand and stopped before running its snout against it.  
I widened my eyes. This brought back memories. Animals have always loved me... Unless is did something to piss them off... But even then they didn't stay angry at me for long.

I began to pet the Boar as others approached me and sat down creating a kind of wall. Looking over at Kirito he was as shocked as I was however as soon as he entered detection range they immediately became hostile and turned towards him. "Run!" I yelled as the boars began to charge at him. Opening my window and re-equipping my blade took only moments and I was already giving chase.

"Oi!" I yelled causing the animals to turn towards me, at first their eyes were as earlier, soft and no hostility visible for up to a couple of seconds, however it immediately disappeared, their eyes gained a hostile glint before charging towards me. There were only five however at this level that was seriously dangerous.

Alone that is. A blur appeared behind the Boars and slashed at they're weak points, effectively killing them and turning them into shining particles. "Jesus Christ, never gonna do that again..." I said, but remembered what the book said, the weapons had to be _hidden_ not un-equipped. "Or maybe I will,Oi Kirito, how much was that cloak we saw in town?"  
"About... 1000 col" Jesus! That much? Opening my menu I found I had gotten 1500 today from all the grinding and quests. "I'm gonna go buy one, then I should be able test out my skill _without_ un-equipping my blade" I decided against closing the menu and checked my skills, I had one slot empty whilst two other were full, the first one was my one-handed sword, the second was a skill named 'Beastly-Aura'  
I guessed it was the skill related to the book. It was level 5 now whilst my one-handed sword has reached level 20.

We walked into town that was mostly deserted, most of the players were still at the beginning village.  
Weaving our way thought out the small town we reached a vendor selling cloaks. I looked through the selection and eventually found one I liked. It was mainly black with strange scarlet en-scribings following the edge.  
It took only moments to buy then equip. "How do I look?" I had the hood down so that my face was visible and the main cloak behind like a cape.  
"Hmm... It doesn't look right with some of the starting gear but other than that it looks good." I grinned, awesome. "Come on, we'd better sell the loot, get some food and do some in-town quests."

"Er..." I slowly rose from my slumber and checked the time, 5 o'clock...  
This is why I hate sleeping in a room I'm not used to, I'll end up waking at ridiculous times... Well, in my opinion at least.  
Knowing that I can't return to sleep I reached over to the bedside table and began to read through the novel section of the book.

It spoke of a wolf with scarlet eyes and midnight fur. It was obviously something todo with lore and made a mental not to speak with an information-Broker, specifically Argo. Although she was stingy when it came to money her information was always top notch so hopefully she'd know something about this.  
The book contained plenty of information unrelated to the story as well near the back, it spoke of the different foods that could be used Tame a familiar, for boars it was apples and Wolves meat.

Finishing my reading for the morning I left my rented room with the book in my inventory and my cloak draped behind my body, I'd found a pin so that I could choose where it parted or stayed together.  
Leaving the room I walked down the corridor planning to get some food when I bumped into a certain cloaked player. She looked at my face for a moment as if trying to think of who I am and where she may have seen me when she asked.  
"Do... I know you" that voice!  
"Long time no see, Argo" it took her a couple of minutes to register what happened but when she did. "Ta-Ki!" I groaned at that nickname, everyone she repeatedly met had one, Kirito's was and still is 'Kii-bou' whilst mine, 'Ta-Ki' not too and but still, is not exactly something I like hearing.

"When did you get here? I hadn't seen you yesterday" I asked, although I hadn't seen her there was still a good chance that she as here.  
"Just last night, you?"  
"I woke yesterday after being carried here unconscious, tho I'm guessing you already knew about the last part" she nodded her head.  
"Well anyway, I gotta go. I've got things I need to attend to" just as she was about to leave I recalled about the book. "Wait! I've got something to ask you" this piqued her interest and she turned to me, swiftly opened her menu and brought up the trade menu. "100 Col" like I said earlier, stingy. I sighed before completing the trade and pulled out my mysterious book. "Have you ever heard of the Scarlet wolf of midnight?" Argo began to think before opening her mouth.  
"If I remember correctly its part of a quest... Why?"  
"Oh, this weird book, it's like a novel and guide put together, the first section has this contract like thing, the next is a novel with all sorts of information like what kind of foods certain animals need in order to be tamed... Oh and I've gotten an extra-skill from it, Beastly-Aura" Argo's eyes widened in surprise "what?"

"You... Did you just say Beastly-Aura?"  
"Yeah... So?"  
"Nobody was able to figure out how people got it, and you come along saying it you got it after reading a book!?"  
"Well, not from Reading the book, but after signing my name in it..."  
"Same thing, you realise that Beastly aura is rumoured to be somehow connected to a Unique-Skill" I... Was speechless, what... The hell? "Although nobody knows how though"  
"Hmm... Well, thanks anyway!" I ran off down the corridor thanking Argo and exited the inn whilst sending Kirito a message 'I'm heading into the field to level that skill.'  
Exiting the inn I noticed a blur pass by, "He must have raised a sprinting stat a ton..." I muttered before heading off to the field.

* * *

**Alex "Thrax" Spencer**

I think I've been running too much... Looking at my skills... Sprint has reached level 60... And it's only the third day. I've been completing quests that involve transporting goods throughout the town and because of that, I've reached level 2 and the recommended level for the field.  
I've been able to upgrade my equipment too. I've traded in my starter Knife for a keener's short-blade. It's stats are supposedly better, considering its requirement is level 2. I was heading for the fields that surrounded the town when I noticed some shady person. I couldn't tell if it was an NPC or player so I ceased my running to get a better look.

The person in question was wearing a hooded cloak that obscured their body however as they moved about it was possible to glimpse at their outfit.  
From what I could tell the person was a guy and wore a set of leather armour riddled with pockets and a strap going across their chest and down to his hip.  
It reminded me if of something I've seen in manga... Something like a thief or assassin would wear. They must have been an NPC, I hasn't seen any other player wearing different clothing, other than cloaks or capes, bandannas or different bracers.

Walking over to the man I tried initiating a quest. "Do you need help or something?" However, he simply smirked before walking into the dimly lit  
alley. Following shortly after him i found myself embraced by the darkness. Luckily it wasn't to dark making it still possible to just about make out the outline of the man. I walked for five minutes till reaching a small sewer that had broken and rusted bars, ducking through I found that same man to be waiting there.

"You Appear to have guts to follow a stranger through an alley, let's see if you have the skill" the cloaked man dashed forward and pulled out a short dagger and just like up him I did the same. He attempted to slash at me however I blocked it with my knife, doing Nito Kendo definitely has its advantages in this kind of world. The cloaked man smirked. "Congratulations, you've passed the test." A window appeared before me, notifying me that I Could start the quest 'Apprentice of Shadows' interesting. I clicked ok and braced. Myself for what was to come.

* * *

**A/N: well? what do you think. I've decided to begin the introduction for the two characters into what will become they're Unique-Skills and if you hadn't guessed yet, Tastuki will be getting a Familiar related skill whilst Thrax will be getting a ninja like skill... although i haven't quite decided on what yet... **

**oh, and you needn't worry about the two view-points, they will be the only two and at some point will obviously meet up and the switching around will become much less frequent. **

**if you've got any questions or just want to say hi then feel free to leave a Review. :D**


	3. Chapter 3: the workshop

**Tatsuya "Tatsuki" Matsuki**

"You're a real psycho, you know that?" Kirito asked. It's been five days since we'd been trapped in this Death-Game and I'd already come close to dying at least 20 times. Three-quarters of those times I had been alone, anyone would think I'm terrible at this game but in truth, it's all because of raising the damn skill 'Beastly Aura'. I have to enter the field Solo with my blade hidden behind a cloak and play with the mobs that were designed to kill us! I'm still surprised I'm even alive.

The two of us were sat in the Inn's bar. The place had a nice atmosphere, a place to relax. The NPCs were all crowded around the bar drinking to their heart's content and getting drunk. Sadly us players can't get drunk, all we feel is a slight dizziness "Yeah, I know however, I really want to learn about that weird skill..." I said. Kirito sighed in response. "Even if it's weird that skill really does fit you... You've away had a way with animals. "he smirked. "What was it people call you?...'Beast Whisperer'?"  
"Oh shut it, your just jealous that people recognize me, unlike you" I grinned.  
"So what are we gonna do?"

"Hmm... Wonder the town and look for some interesting quest?" I asked, I hadn't the slightest clue what to do as everyday I've been in the hunting fields.  
"Sounds good I suppose" we stood from our seats and exited the heavily frequented inn, the sky was midnight black and the stars were in perfect view.  
We walked casually throughout the town passing by the occasional players. The town was no longer deserted as most players had finally made it here. Meaning that we would soon leave and head towards the next village.

Passing by the numerous merchants and player-shops we eventually reached the church. Neither of us had so much as entered the holy building so if there were quests inside neither of us would have finished them already.  
The entrance was a massive wooden door possibly three times the size as a normal person and as we braced ourselves to push the door felt as light as a feather. "Ack!" I yelled in surprise as I stumbled forward trying my best not to fall.  
Kirito was just a step behind and unlike me he wasn't... Er how to out it? Disgraceful...

"Wow... This place is.. Just, wow" he spoke in amazement. Looking away from the interesting ground I also found myself in amazement. The walls were made from smoke stone, candles hung from the ceiling in chandeliers. There was a red luxurious carpet spread out between many rows of seats and standing before the entirety were a man draped in the obvious clothing of a priest. "Didn't Argo mention something about the priest and some quest?" I asked. Between the two of us It was obvious the Argo liked Kirto more than me although I still haven't figured the reason... Perhaps it's because I've started to charge her for information from me? Whatever. Kirito turned to look at me.  
"Hmm... Possibly" he passed for a moment and took another look at the robed man. "Either way it couldn't hurt to try. "

The two of us started down the towards the priest and as we did something dawned on me. If this were the real world we'd no doubt look real damn suspicious. I mean, who wouldn't? Two boys walking towards an old man both armed with swords. One of them wore a cloak whilst the other simple clothing some bracers and a breast-plate, it wouldn't be surprising if we found ourselves siting in a jail cell or an interrogation room.

"How could we help you?" kirito asked, one of the few general ways of starting a quest. Although there are also some that respond to certain keywords.  
"Ah! Some young adventurers! Just what I needed, it seems that an interesting wolf has stolen some food and cloth that, to be honest, was of a high value. Please, I'd do anything if you Could do something about it!". A quest window appeared before us, the on,y strange thing was that it appeared I front of me not Kirito the player who started the quest. I looked at the quest's title which explained the reason. It was named 'tale of a Scarlet Wolf. Part 1' I turned to face Kirito. "Perhaps this is a quest specifically meant for the owner of that book...?"  
He nodded. "Yes.. I've heard of quests that require certain skills or items before hand. What are the rewards?" Now that I think about it we are they? I looked back to the window and found to my surprise that there were multiple rewards however only one could be chosen... Among these rewards was a Cloak.

I turned towards my coursing and grinned. "I'm getting a new Cloak, a magic one to" he sighed.  
"Of course" then he turned towards the door. "Come on, we'll start that quest tomorrow " I nodded before accepting it, if already looked through the summary and it hadn't mentioned any time limit.

When we reached the outside I noticed a shadow jumping from roof to roof and a faint glim of metal could have been seen however I discarded the thought. My eyes were probably playing tricks on me.

**Alex "Thrax" Spencer**

I'd awoken with a jolt. Apparently this quest was a bloody long one not to mention unique. I doubted anyone else had come across something like this. I've basically become this NPC; who I've now learnt to be named Durm, Apprentice.  
Crazy huh. Id been given a room in this kind of hide-out complete with a bed, wardrobe, desk and weapon wrack. The walls were made of cobblestone and the same for the floors, the only light came from small candles and surprisingly enough, this place didn't smell to bad.  
There were multiple rooms, a few of these were a training-room, workshops, library's, kitchens and living quarters and living quarters like this one.  
Durm had given me orders like 'train your dagger and knife skills on these dummies. I've even been told that I had to learn certain skills like blade-throwing or hiding. ' and once I had trained for a certain amount of time he'd drop me in this arena that continually spit out low-level mobs that I was easily able to kill. Sort of like a repayment for keeping me here and not allowing me out, not Even to level. This way, when I finished I wouldn't be under-leveled

This man was crazy if you asked me. He always kept me on my toes. Whenever I awoke there would be a sword hanging above and if I hadn't gotten out in time he'd cut the rope that suspended it, allowing it to pierce into me. I knew that if I didn't pull it out in time I'd definitely die, luckily afterward he'd give me a healing potion.

This time however was different, when I awoke there was no sword waiting to skewer me, I left the comfort of my bed to look for my master, what I found surprised me dearly. He sat at a small wooden table treating wounds that he somehow acquired. "What happened?" I asked, although this man was an A.I apparently he was one of the more intelligent ones, he really acts like a person. And no, don't try to tell me he is, he has NPC hanging above his head but only if I squint my eyes, other than that it's invisible.

"Just a routine purge is all. Nothing to worry about" this was new, he said 'Purge'  
However I hadn't the clue as to what that was. "What do you mean 'Purge'?" The familiar glint of mystery appeared in his eyes before he spoke  
"I go about the town, killing monsters that have infiltrated and plan to kill the innocents" wait.. Hold up, since when could monster enter the towns? They're safe zones, right? "You needn't worry, these monsters only enter at night. They also have no interest in Adventures like you" although I tried my best to hide it but a faint look of surprise must have glanced across my face as Durm grinned.  
"Next time, you can help out" I smiled, "but for now, there is something I wish to entrust to you, follow me" Durm stood before walking through one of the many doors and into the library.

When I followed him in I found he had a book in hand steadily approaching me.  
"I feel that the time is right. You have made it longer than any other of my Apprentices, then again p, you're the first adventurer so there is in surprise there."  
He handed the book towards me and I took it meekly. "Use the information in this book to learn the required Extra-skill. Once you have we shall really begin your training."

That was all Durm said before leaving me to read. Well, whatever. I dropped myself into a seat and opened the book. I was instantly greeted by a page of gibberish... He expects me to read this? That was when I noticed a bar at the bottom of the page that had Signature written at the beginning. I tapped the line causing a keyboard to appear, typing my name and hitting enter sections of the book became readable.

_'Congratulations my pupil, having made it this far you have earned the right to truly call yourself a 'disciple of Shadows'. This contract has granted you access to the 'Shadow Arts' a unique-skill that can be possessed by only one Player at a single time._  
_As the skill's level increase you will gain access to new skills. To begin with, only the dual-Knives/daggers ability is usable, along with access to my workshop and equipment designs '_

Wait... I can use two daggers now? I opened my menu with a swipe of my hand and navigated to my skills window. A new skill had been added just as the book had said. 'Shadow-Arts' I clicked on the name bringing up its details.  
"_Shadow Arts, Unique-Skill: alters the users already learnt skills along with its own unique effects._  
_Alteration-Bonuses_  
_One-handed knife skill: adds new usable sword skills along with the ability to wield a second blade._

_More will be revealed and unlocked as the skill progresses._

_New abilities_  
_Unique armour crafting: allows the crafting and upgrading of the Apprentice Shadow-Gear and up from within the hideouts._

_More abilities will be revealed and unlocked as the skill progresses._

Armour crafting? That's unexpected, perhaps I can craft Armour now? Guess I'd better ask Durm about it at some point... Or maybe I'll give it a try now.  
Standing from my seat I made my way into one of the cobblestone corridors. I've been told that there are exits leading to all over the town and even a corridor leading to the next town... Only that it's guarded by mobs, the entrance is locked and only key belongs to Durm.

It took a few minutes but eventually I reached one of multiple workshops spread throughout the workshop. Unlike the others I had encountered this one was connected to a store-room so hopefully I'll be able to find the required materials.  
The workshop itself unlike the multiple other rooms has a wooden floor, Arches riddle the ceiling and torches light up the interior from their positions upon the walls.  
In one of the corners were a small crate and when I looked inside I found an absolute ton of leather and thread. "Guess I've got some work to do" I grinned, speaking to no one in particular.

I found my way to one of the many benches and tapped on it. A window opened up with options for crafting."hmm.. Keeners night-armour, Keeners night-Knives, Keeners Night-Cloak... There's tons of stuff here!" I rushed back over to the crate and pulled as much as I could into my inventory before returning to the bench and crafting all the gear. Although it took a few minutes I finally created all of them.

I equipped each piece before looking at myself in the mirror and if I do say so myself I looked awesome. Most of my body was covered by a massive hooded black clock and looking at the back of it I found a strange symbol resembling an Angel standing or.. Flying? Before the ... Well whatever.  
The rest of my outfit is comprised of black leather chest-plate, bracers, shin-guards, shoulder-guards and under all of that were simple black cloth.  
I noticed that on some points of my leather Armour were moon symbols.

I unsheathed my two Knives and looked over them. The blades were Abyss-black whilst the hilts had a tinge of red. I returned the knives to their sheaths and put all the remaining material back in the crate.

Leaving the Workshop I walked back to the the main room and found Durm grinning. "I see you've made the basic gear"  
"Y-yeah... Is that alright?"  
"Of course, if you hadn't I would have dropped you in the arena bare assed now come on, get some sleep, training begins tomorrow, no more of this hiding." I grinned. "If that's true then could I go into town?" Then man looked at me and narrowed his eyes."if you do you'd better not die."  
"Sure"  
I walked back through the entrance I came through when I first Apprentices myself to Durm and made it back to the alley. "It sure feels good to be out in the open again"

* * *

**A/N: welp, here's the next chapter and ive introduced Tatsu's Skill quest. both of the boys will take a bit to complete them and i haven't decided when their quests will finish... nor when the two of them will meet properly. anyway im gonna keep Tatsu with Kirito for a bit until possibly the 2nd floor? i dunno. **

**but here's a question, what do you think of Thrax's soon to be Title 'Night-Angel' does anyone recognize it from a certain trilogy?**


	4. Chapter 4: Viral

**sorry for the late update! But here it is!**

* * *

**Alex "Thrax"Spencer**

"It sure feels good to be out in the open again" I grinned. Making my way out into the Main Street wasn't hard and to my surprise the streets were filled with players. Although their gear wasn't high and most still appeared to be in the starter gear it was still a sight. Did Kayaba imagine something like this? Lining the streets were 'player-vendors', players who sold their own goods like

monster-drops or even items they may have crafted on the 'Vendors-carpet'. It was an array of colours and as I walked through the streets I certainly received my fair share of glances. Realising that the cause was my gear I draped my cloak over my shoulders making sure that nothing could. E seen through... Perhaps I should have returned to using my old gear?

I wasn't entirely sure why I came up... "~ghuur~" well now I've got my reason. I brought up my menu and acceded the. Map function I clicked the option to filter everything but restaurant and Inn signs out. I quickly decided I'd spend some Col.

Weaving my way through out the town I reached my destination, a small Inn, it wasn't too big nor popular but it suited my purpose. Opening the door caused a bell to ring, telling the owner someone had entered and I walked to the bar.

One of the NPC's made their way towards me. He man wore a simple tunic covered by an apron"How can I help you?" He asked. As he did so a small window opened before me listing the names of the dishes. "Hmm..." I scrolled through the virtual menu. "I'll have smoked Ham and some Ale" the man didn't even blink, although I was definitely underage I'll still be served Alcohol... then again according an old friend of mine; he took part in the Beta, you won't get drunk, only slightly dizzy.

"Coming right up, why don't you go and take a seat at one if the tables." He noose towards the large expanse of open tables, I walked towards one of the tables beside the windows and sat down, taking my first real look around the room It certainly reminded me of old medieval taverns. The floor is made up of many oak wood planks crudely cut compared to the ones back in the real world.

It wasn't possible to discern what materials the walls had been made as they had been covered with a cream wallpaper.

Because I'd sat down I decided to relax, I allowed my cloak to fall behind me uncovering my gear. I placed my arms over the table.

It was around five minutes later that one of the waitresses brought out my food. She placed the plate and jug down upon his table and took one look at my outfit, then my hands. Her eyes widened with surprise and she pulled out a small note from her apron's pocket before placing it on my table. The lady simply smiled awkwardly before walking away into the kitchen. "What was that about..." I muttered under my breath. Before I began eating I thought it best to see what that was all about. An intricate symbol had been inked onto one side and unfolding it revealed to me a message.

'Heres one of the good things about wearing that gear of yours. The people you call NPCs will give you discounts on items and food, sometimes even sell you different items compared to the usual stuff. All I'm trying to say is don't hide the 'Shadows Mark', if you don't know what it is then look back to the note, it's the symbol on the paper, it's also on your gloves.' I glanced down at gloves and noticed that same pattern.

As I were about to eat a flash of brown entered my sight. Looking to its source my eyes widened. I abruptly stood from my seat knocking it over in the process.

Standing by the counter was another player. She had mid length brown hair that reached just bellow her shoulders. She must have head the noise as she turned to face me and her eyes widened just as mine did. Her face. Was one I'd never forget.

We stood there silent for a few seconds and it was long enough for the NPC to ask what her order was again however she ignored him and muttered. "Alex..." she took a few steps forward before jumping at me. I held put my armed and caught her. "Alice! What are you doing in here!" I yelled Yes, this is Alice, one of my two childhood friends. "I thought you hated VR games!?"

"I did until I tried a few... Then Tatsu said he was getting the and I... Wanted to surprise him..." I blinked.

"Tatsu's here? Trapped in this game?" She stared at me before nodding

"He told me he was gonna log in as soon as possible, though he didn't tell me his name... "

"Did you try Ghost? That's the name he normally went by?" Alice shook her head

"He told me he was using a different name to Ghost... No more like I over heard him speaking with his cousin." That must have been The infamous Kazuto. The one who helped him into the Beta...

"Well... Either way, we'll talk some more... Just as soon as you've ordered your food..." She made an 'Ah' expression as she returned to the counter with a spring in her step.

I returned to my seat and began to eating before being joined by Alice not long after. "By the way... What's your In-game name? I can't continue calling you by your real name here." I asked, on of the unspoken rules of this word was to not bring real-life stuff into here, this included names.

"My name? Oh it's uh... " she glanced upwards "Mika"

"You don't remember your character's name?"

"I'm... Not used to being called other names... That's all" she replied sheepishly whilst I could only blink. "Isn't Mika your middle name?"

"S-so... Anyway!"she squeaked, obviously trying to change the subject. "What's your's?"

Grinning I replied "The name's Thrax, Nice to meet'cha, Mika" I tried my best to hold In a laugh as 'Mika's' face turned as red as a Cherry.

* * *

**Tatsuya 'Tatsuki' Matsuki**

"Achoo!" I rubbed my nose... Is it even possible to get a could in a game? Or perhaps someone is talking about me... Oh what ever. It's the second day since I started that quest, I've headed out into the fields, hunting for this 'Scarlet wolf' whilst looking though my quest log. It didn't say they I had to kill but specifically said that I had to 'subdue' it... Perhaps theres different rewards for different methods? But something was certain, there just have been a reason why I had been given the quest and not Kirito or even both of us.

As this quest was given only to me I told my cousin that I'd do it alone, not sure if it was a good idea or not but who know? Perhaps I can increase my 'Beastly Aura' Skill. After somewhere between half an hour and an hour I reached the quest area. A massive forest. "Does it really mean for me to search the entire Forrest? " I muttered. It was one of those quests where players had to search within a specific Forrest itself were comprised of massive oak trees where the leaves and branches made a natural canopy.

I was Just about to enter when a duo of players noticed me as they walked down the beaten path that spanned the perimeter of the gloomy Forrest. "Hey! What are you you doing!" One of them yelled. A girl with Crimson red hair, hmm... She must have customised that; there is a hairdresser in town along with a barber, in both places it's possible to dye a players hair or style it in different ways. She also had snow-white skin giving of a fragile like aura and hanging on her back was a spear made not for thrusting but Slashing. The other was a boy, he had Azure blue hair and matching eyes, hanging on his back was a large shield and sword. The pair of them wore armour different from my own, it was light metal armour, pretty expensive as if now so they must know what they're doing.

"What Does it look like I'm doing? I'm going in there" I said, pointing into the Forrest. "You realise at your level this place is a death-trap! you haven't even upgraded your armour or weapon!" I smirked. Wearing starter gear made myself look weak apparently, maybe I should upgrade it. "What kind of monsters spawn inside?" I asked

"Things like wolves and... Bears and boars... Why?"

"Perfect, they won't even touch me" there may as well have been a question-mark Above her head as that's the kind of expression she had. "You'll see" I replied casually walking Into the Forrest ignoring the duo's please for me to stop was simple. Once I was around 50 metres in a few of the local residents took notice. They stood from their woodland beds and approached me. The scraping of metal emanating from the duo un-sheathing their weapons could be heard and I simply raised my hand, signalling for them to stay where they were.

The first monster, a small wolf approached me snarling, bearing it razor-sharp teeth. However as per normal it stopped once it got in arms-reach. Brushed up against my leg and curled up beside me.

I looked back towards the Duo grinning. "Now do you understand?" They shook their heads in disbelief and stepped one foot into the Forrest, a bad move. The monsters immediately became hostile towards them and pounced upon their prey.

"Shit! Get out of here!" I yelled, drawing my blade from the sheath hidden beneath my cloak. I dashed towards one of the boars t and fell into the activation position for Slant. starting from bottom right I performed a 45 degree diagonal slash with my now glowing sword. This skill took down close to half of the Boars Health and I sphere. My body using the momentum from the skill and performed a Slant without the system assist from a position completely opposite the previous one and as it was performed without the system there was no added damage and flashy effects. It didn't take long before me and the Duo took out all hostile mobs from then on anyway.

"Honestly... How come those mobs didn't attack you?" Asked the boy of the duo.

"It's a skill... That's all I can really say, now don't follow me, I was going into the forest for a Quest and it'll be easier alone" I said. Lifting my hood I was about to disappear back off into the gloomy Forrest when one of the Duo, the Girl spoke.

"Let us add you on our friends list! That way... Well know if you die after this... But... If you don't... Come meet us at our Inn!" I turned my face back to them and as I did a menu popped up displaying the friend requests. "Uh.. Sure?" I looked down at the window and looked at their names, Reika and Ao, a pretty simple name but it fit him. I tapped the accept buttons and awaited the time that the windows disappeared then turned around and ran into the Forrest leaving behind my newly met friends, perhaps I'll see them afterwards, That is, if I don't die.

I continued running throughout the Forrest, with this Being a game I didn't run out of breath. Then again even if this was the real world I doubt I'd run out of breath anyway, I'd often go jogging in the morning just are I woke and to top it off I even did Kendo, well more specifically I practiced Nito Kendo (using two Shinai, one long one short.)with a good friend of mine before he moved to another town, this kinda explains how I know my way around a sword and why I'm tempted to pick up a knife along with my sword although I'm not entirely sure it's possible... I'll have to give it a try at some point.

I eventually reached a small cave that I guessed to be the home of my target the Scarlet wolf from all the cloth littering the entrance. The cave was actually surprisingly big and could definitely fit two people in and have more than enough room to move, possibly even have a Duel.

Moving deeper into the cave they had a shallow downwards slope I heard a quiet Growl, alerting me that the occupant knew I'm here.

I eventually reached a large opening, I was underground only it seemed to be a dome made of stone neatly carved out. Perhaps this had once belonged to people. In the centre of this large expanse I found a Wolf with black fur and Scarlet eyes. It was lying within a small pile of cloth, it's eyes trained on mine.

I inched closer and the beast rose from its bed bearing its fangs. Looks like this won't be as easy as I'd hoped... No wolf had regarded me like is since I gained that skill.

I drew the blade that was hidden beneath my cloak and lowered my hood. My blade held before me in a one-handed stance, hanging around with Kirito made me realise that shields are unnecessary, as long as you don't get hit, and even if something gets close I can simply block with my blade, so who needs shields? Wait... No don't answer that... Ao does...

Anyway, the wolf dashed towards me and opened its mouth bearing its fangs for all to see and I guessed it was going to try and bite me. _However_ I was mistaken, I'd guessed that this thing was like the other wolves with simply a name, but in truth it's much smarter. It was a _faint_ and the claws on its paws found their way into my digital-flesh leaving red marks that stayed only for a moment. The attack had dealt barely any damage and looking back at the wolf, it appeared to be grinning, if that was even possible.

I dashed at the wolf showing off a grin of my own and as I was about to slash it, I _jumped_ over its back performing a front-flip before sheathing my blade. The wolf looked at me with a questioning glance. I opened my menu and pulled out a large chunk of meat. The wolf slowly padded towards me before lying at my fear looking at the meat longingly.

This Wolf, there was definitely a reason I received this quest, a reason why that Strange book had a story about it. What did it say at the beginning? Something about becoming a beast-tamer? If so, them I think I've found my partner? That quest said I had to subdue the wolf, not kill it.

Sitting on the ground I slowly fed the wolf and once all the meat was finished a small window appeared that chucked out the strange book. It's pages opened as if by magic and a new piece of text had become readable.

'Congratulations, you've figure out the puzzle. The animal from the story side was found to have had the best compatability with you and was chosen by the system. However, if you'd killed the animal you would have lost all chances to earn the Unique-skill 'Familiar Partnership', however, you succeeded and now you have it. Good luck with your further adventures.

Signed: K.A'

K...A? Who cou- no way! Kayaba Akihiko! It was just then yet another window appeared, this time asking for me to name my new partner, Hmm... Uh. Ah!

I quickly typed his new name into the window and hit enter. The window disappeared and hanging above the Scarlet wolf's head were 'Viral' the name I had chosen, it's the name of a character from some apparent 'Legendary ' anime from my dad's time.

Standing up from my seat on the floor I were about to walk out of the cave with Viral in tow when a flash of red light appeared, I looked around but couldn't find its source. It was then I finally left the cave and headed home to my room back in town.

* * *

**A/N: **

**So, what do your think? did anyone guess the relation between Thrax and Tatsuki? If you did well done! Your probably smarter than people give you credit for! JK, JK...**

**anyway, there wont be anymore updates for a while now unless I can find the time to do it as I've got my mock week coming up, (TOO MANY TESTS!) and I've got a ton of revising to do...**


	5. Chapter 5: The Wolf-Blade

**Thrax**

"Jesus!" I jumped out-of-the-way of an arrow "are you trying to kill me!?" I yelled at my Master Durm who simply smirked. "This is training, dodging the arrows if monsters is much-needed skill."  
"But what about parrying and actual sword fighting?"  
"That comes later"  
A few hours later we finished my training and headed to bed. I've recently been allowed to leave the hideout more often now and I've spent the time hanging with Mika.

"Oh and by the way, the rest of your training will continue on the second floor. Your current mission is to now look for the dungeon and consequently, the floor boss"  
I blinked. "Seriously?"nobody has been able to reach a high enough level even to reach the next town, let alone the dungeon. If I'm to start looking now I'd be alone.  
"Well yes. I'll be heading up to the second floor now, I'll see you once this floor's cleared." Master Durm then proceeded to pull a small pouch from out of his pocket. "But tha-" before I could even ask him however he threw the pouch to the ground causing a small smokescreen that perfectly hindered my eyesight. When the smoke dissipated the figure of master Durm had disappeared.  
"Shit..."

**1 week later...**

It's been three weeks since this death game began and yet nobody has found the floor boss. Multiple parties head out into the dungeons every day with little to no casualties.  
As per master Durms orders I've headed out into the field, the dungeon and mapping the labyrinth, the massive spire that connects this floor to the next where lying in wait is the boss of the floor. Even the beta testers haven't found it!  
I was making my way to the labyrinth when I passed two players I recognised.  
Ao and Reika. "Hey" i said, the duo looked at me and grinned "how was the grinding Or were you looking for the boss-room?"  
"Nah, just grinding" Ao replied. Ao was wearing light metal armour along with a more advanced sword. Looking closely I recognised it. "Is that the Anneal-blade?" I was surprised. There aren't very many people who've been able to complete the quest simply because of the sheer number of players attempting to clear the quest, along with how low the drop-rate is for the quest item.

"Yeah, I just got it recently with he help of the Wolf-Tamer you heard of him?"  
"Hmm... Can't saying have, what he look like?" This time it was Reika's turn to answer  
"He's got black hair and odd eyes"  
"O-odd eyes? Is that possible?"  
"Yeah, he's got one scarlet, one black, I'm surprised you haven't heard of him, he's the only person who's managed to tame a unique wolf, hence the name "  
"Unique?" That's odd... Is it possible to tame unique monster?  
"Yeah, it was from some one-time quest. That's why he could tame it... Or so that's how the rumours go, Argo The-Rat charges a ton of Col for the info, what's worse, she's the only one he told" damn... This guy... I wonder who he is?

"You heading into the labyrinth?" Ao asked.  
"Yeah, i haven't got much left to map so hopefully we'll be on floor two soon"  
"Seriously! Holy Sh-" he was up he'd in the gut by Reika before he got a chance to finish his sentence. "Language!" Seeing these two like this reminds of how good their friendship is, I'd guessed they knew each other IRL as they're never apart, most players that knew each other before the game stay together. Similar to me and Ali- no Mika. "Well either way, good luck!" The duo waved to me and I continued on my way.

I reached the labyrinth in a matter of minutes, passing by the entrance brought back memories of the field boss. A large ogre. It didn't take long to defeat it but still. It was our first field-boss and a little taster as to what then floor-boss will be like.

Passing though the archway like entrance I were immediately greeted by a monster. A Ruin-Kobold Trooper a nasty bugger that wields a two handed axe. It's a humanoid type capable of Sword-Skills and had a bulky build, a tail and rabbit like ears.  
"You're in my way!" I yelled, dashing forward and drawing my twin knives. "Dual-Fang strike!" I yelled the name of a 4-hit skill that's part of the Shadow Arts skill.  
A skill that uses both knives two hits from each blade.  
The knives began to glow a deep purple and my body began to move due to the system-assist.

First my an anti clock-wise spin slashing with my left blade and once I returned to my original position the momentum carried my right blade into a piercing stab. My body repeated the motion only in the opposite direction and all this happened within the span of a couple of seconds. The monster disappeared, shattering into tiny light reflecting crystals and scattering in the wind. "Isn't there anything more challenging?"  
I muttered, advancing further into the labyrinth.

It took close to two hours to reach the unmapped area, from here on I wouldn't progress so fast and likely take up to four hours to finish mapping. My plan was to sell the Map-Data to any and all info-brokers making sure to spread it around however, I'd also need to find the highest level of players in the town and give them the data for free, and hopefully tell them the location of the boss-room.

The level of mobs on this floor is somewhere around 6 whilst my level is about 8. And thanks to all the training and grinding I've done I'm in the safety zone for almost everything on this floor, other than the floor boss which we don't know the level of as of yet.  
I stepped one foot into the un-mapped territory and immediately triggered a trap. "Shit..." Sections opened within the walls revealing thin slits that were just about big enough to... They're gonna fire arrows, aren't they. "Crap!" I yelled ducking to the ground as flaming arrows passed over head, this must have triggered something else as a ton of mobs started charging towards me. "This just isn't my day!" I un-sheathed my twin blades and charged at the oncoming horde, activating the Sword-Skill Dual-thrust a simple skill where I dashed ahead and stabbed my left blade into one of the mobs and used the momentum to carry my second blade into the mob like a jack-hammer. Jumping back after the delay ended I got into a more offensive. Just as I were about to kick of the ground the five remaining Kobolds shattered into polygons.

Standing In front of Me may as well have been my Guardian-angel. Mika stood, sword In-hand smiling. "What would you do without me?" She asked!  
"Um... Die?"  
"That was a rhetorical question... Baka" she muttered.

"I thought you were staying in town?"  
"I was... Till I got bored with being stared at like some rare species"  
"You know... Technically you are. You wouldn't really expect to find such a cute girl such as yourself in a world of swords, would you?" Her face turned as red as a cherry. a little habit I'd made since coming here, for some reason it's really fun to tease her.

"S-so... Do you want to continue mapping?" She asked changing the subject.  
"Yeah, that sounds good to me, the sooner we Mao this place the sooner we can reach the next floor"  
After that for the next five hours we wondered throughout the labyrinth, looking for traps, treasure and the boss room which we eventually found on the 20th floor. "Should we take a peek?" I asked looking towards my partner.  
"L-let's not, it seems a little... Scary" I muttered a "fine fine" before we began to make our way home to the village of Tolbana.

As soon as we reached the town Mika and I parted way as I headed towards the inn Argo was staying in. On my way there I passed by a blue haired player wearing heavy metal-armour. "O-Oi, are you planning on fighting the boss?" I asked nervously. The guy turned to face me with a questioning look. "Yeah, why?"  
"I've just found it, the boss room along with finished mapping the labyrinth"  
The guy looked surprised "Seriously! Where is it!?" I opened. He menu and navigate to the trade option, sent the request which he instantly accepted and sent him the map-data "it's on the 20th floor, you can take credit for finding it, I'm not really bothered and it'll probably seem a lot more credible coming from you" the guy blinked, but then looked closer as my gear.  
"You say that yet, your also a player aiming for the boss, right?" I nodded  
" but I mainly keep to myself, you probably have a better rep than me" he nodded and turned to walk away. "Thanks, are,you going to fight with us?"  
"Of course"  
"Then I'll see you soon" the armour wearing swordsman walked off and I walked towards Argo's Inn. Passing by a cloaked figure I noticed something off about him... And slightly familiar, I could have sworn is aw his eyes but... They were odd, wait... So is he? The Wolf-Tamer? the figure continued to walk and following closely behind him were a wolf that was almost the same size as the entirety of his leg and eventually he was out of sight.

* * *

**Tatsuki**

I walked throughout the town with Viral in tow, nobody stares as much anymore as almost everyone had heard of me... Somehow or other. Apparently thanks to my partnership with Viral my hair had Scarlet-red highlights and my right eye had become the same colour as Viral's eyes, also Scarlet-red. apparently to show our bond or something or other.

I was walking towards what had now become the merchants district as it had become the most popular place for players to lay down their vendors carpets and sell their wares. The reason I'm heading there you may ask? Simply to find some new Bracers and possibly a spare weapon. At this point in time it's impossible to complete the quest for the Anneal-Blade which me and Kirito had completed ages ago. So then next best thing was often player made gear.

Making it to the merchant district took merely minutes, the problem was finding a good blacksmith... It had taken me an hour once before to simply find some materials so finding a blacksmith... Will hopefully be easier.

After what had felt like an hour my eyes drifted to a particular vendor-mat. It's was lathered with armour and weapons not to mention Bracers and shin-guards.  
The player selling them was surprisingly a girl. You won't find many girls here so seeing a merchant-player who happened to be a girl was actually slightly surprising. She had brown hair and pink eyes coupled a somewhat baby faces as some may call it.

I walked over to her map and bent down. "How much for the bracers?" I asked. She looked up to me surprised. Then noticed my appearance and the Wolf standing beside me. "Aren't you the The Black-Wolf?"  
"Great... Another name..." She tilted her head at my comment.  
"What do you mean, another?"  
"The name people call me keeps changing... At first it was The Tamer, a ridiculous name in my opinion" I muttered. "Then it became The Wolf's blade another ridiculous name, then The Wolf Tamer, a name that was t so bad and now... It's changed to The Black-wolf"  
"Ah... Well their still pretty cool, I wonder if I'll ever get a Title.."  
"Trust me, you don't want one!" I she giggled trying to hold back a laugh and somehow succeeded before smiling at, to be honest... She's kinda cute.

"Anyway, you said you wanted the bracers? About 700 Col."  
She handed the bracers to me to look over "Huh... Pretty cheap for Bracers"  
"Are you calling my stuff cheap!" Oh shit... I think I struck a nerve. Although, I didn't mean anything bad by it... "They are not cheaply made Even if they were, it's only because if the materials, do you know how hard it is to get good materials for a smith!" I smirked, perhaps this could work to my advantage...  
"Oh... So if you had the materials, you would be able to make better gear?"  
She crossed her arms before her chest "of course!"  
"then I'll go get some for you, if I get enough would you make other pieces for me?" I asked as I opened a trade window and sent her some money.  
"Pre-payment, you'll get the rest after I get the gear" she was standing there with her mouth making the perfect 'O' shape. "That money could go towards better equipment"  
" w-what?" She asked stuttering "do you know what materials you will need?"  
"Nope, that was what I hoped you would tell me" I grinned.  
"W-well... You'll need-" she began to go through the required materials whilst I Mentally looked for what they drop from and as it turns out, they all drop from the Labyrinth monsters.

"I'll see you tomorrow" I began to walk off towards the dungeon, behind girl yelled. "T-tomorrow! All that stuff in one day" I waved back towards the smith, a sign basics, saying 'I'll do it!'.  
I was just about to leave the town when I remembered I hadn't bought the latest Map-Data from Argo or any of the other info-brokers. So I turned my body and walked towards the Inn me and Kirito along with a few other including Argo were staying at.

Speaking of Kirito we've been splitting up a lot rather recently, this may be due to the two of us helping different players but still, it may be nice to fight together for a change. I reached the Inn and immediately headed towards Argo's room and knocked on the door. It opened rather quickly and figure swiftly walked out of the room not making eye contact or even looking at me, I only got a glance at him, and his gear. He wore leather-armour mixed with cloth and wore a hooded cloak. Something... Seemed familiar about him but I couldn't out my finger on it.

Inside the room was Argo sitting on her bed and beckoning for me to come in further. "What up Ta-Ki?" She asked.  
"Who was that?" I asked. As I did Viral walked into the room,jumped up onto the bed near a freaked out Argo who quickly jumped away from him.  
"O-One of my clients I guess you could say" looking at Viral anyone could tell he was disappointed... He's way to use to getting spoiled by Kirito.  
"Right... Anyway, could I get the latest Map-Data?"  
"Sure, it was just recently complete as well."  
"Seriously!?"  
" yep, I think I heard someone organising a meeting to take place soon for the Boss-Raid" Argo said as she opened up a trade menu. I Inputted a small amount of Col and completed the transaction.  
"Heh, so we're finally moving up"  
"Yeah... Hey.. Try not to die alright? If we lose you it'd be a massive blow"  
"Don't worry, I ain't dying anytime soon"I signalled for Viral to come and once he had left the room I closed the door behind me and me and my furry partner headed off to the Labyrinth.

However, I had a surprising encounter. The same Blacksmith-Girl from earlier was standing at the exit of the town wielding a mace whilst some parts of her body were covered by armour."I'm gonna help" she said, I couldn't do anything but face-palm.  
" you realise how dangerous the Labyrinth is right?" I asked.  
"That doesn't matter, plus it'll be faster this way"  
"Not really... It'll be a lot slower with you slowing me down"  
"I won't slow you down!"  
"Your really stubborn aren't you...""  
"Yep"  
"Fine... But try not to slow me down"  
"Sure!" That smile again.  
"Well then, let's go, Viral, you happy with patrolling?" I asked my partner as I added this girl to my party. He replied with an energetic woof and ran down the path beaten path surrounded by trees and bushes.

Looking at my party I found this girl's name Lizbet huh...  
"Are all tamed animals as smart as him?" Lizbet asked  
"Not entirely sure myself. But before I tamed him he was definitely smarter than others." I said. "Oh and by the way.. Could I just call you Liz?"  
" h-how.. Did"  
"Look at the top right, there a name besides your own right?"  
I noticed her eyes looking upwards. "Tatsuki.. That your name?"  
"Yep" just then my right eye slightly glowed.  
" w-what's going on?"  
"Shhh!" I closed my left eye and the scenery changed to the area up-ahead. The sight that Viral was currently seeing. A large Ruin-Kobold-Trooper was guarding the entrance to the Labyrinth. "Shit!"  
"W-what?"  
"One of the massive Kobolds from the Labyrinth must have somehow glitch'd outside. It's now guarding the entrance."  
"Is that a problem?"  
"Not really, it's just a pain in the ass, I'd normally avoid the massive ones whoever now... I can't"  
"Then what are you going to do.. Wait no, more importantly how do you even know!" I pointed to my right eye.  
"I can see what Viral see's, thanks to this skill of mine, but enough if that!" I grabbed Liz' arm and dragged her closer however once the thing was insight I threw her into on of the bushes. "Stay there! I don't want you getting in the way!"  
I expect she wanted to complain however I couldn't give her the chance to do so as I dashed towards the monster.

"Viral!" I yelled and my partner jumped put if it's hiding spot a few metres from Liz. "Bloody-Claw" I yelled. A skill that Viral knew and responded to, he dashing at the Kobold as his nails glowed a Scarlet-red. He rolled forward into the creature and cut at its legs for a total of 5-hits. "Switch!" I yelled, a technique normally employed in parties with multiple player however I've found that It works just as well with Viral.

I dashed at the creature just as Viral jumped backwards and fell into the activation stance for Savage-Fulcrum. First a performed a slash from right to left ,before turning the blade by about 90 degree and did a vertical slash from bottom to top and then proceeded to do a full powered vertical-slash from top to bottom. A skill that traces lines that make up the figure number 4, a 3-hit combo. This had done a considerable a out of damage and brought it down to a quarter of its health which is still surprising considering its size.

I tried to move my body however because of the delay from using a sword skill I were unable to move. I heard a growl coming from behind that I've grown to associate with 'Switch' Viral dashed in between me and the Kobold with his Fangs  
Glowing a deep crimson-red, these fangs snapped shut on the leg of the Kobold like a bare trap. Viral had used a skill called Bloody-Fang the sister skill of Bloody-Claw. This skill slowly brings down the Heath of whatever is between Viral's jaw and so far it's been brought done to Half.

The massive Kobold brought its axe up over its head and was planning to smash hit into Viral however. "Switch!" I once again yelled. Performed a few minor slashes and then fell into the stance for Vertical-Arc. My blade began to glow blue and I slashed from top-left to bottom middle then tilted my blade slightly and performed a full powered vertical slash going to top-right, finally cutting the monster up and leaving a V shaped mark.

The Kobold shattered into transparent polygons and disappeared. I shattered, using multiple sword skills like that in such a short span of time was terribly  
tiring.  
A small window appeared before me. 'Congratulations, you've just defeated the randomly spawning field boss, you have earned an item!'  
"Randomly...spawning? That new... So it wasn't a glitch'd monster... Huh... I wonder what I got..." I opened my inventory and found out. "Wolf-blade...huh.. Strangely fitting..." I tuned back to Liz who u had almost forgotten about. "Do you have an appraising skill?" I noticed she was sat their in shock.  
"Is something the matter?" She shook her head.  
"No.. Its just... You, how, did you use switch.. With a beast.. I know he's tamed and all but, normally their only for support. Not dealing damage"  
"Ah.. About that... Let's just say... He's unique" I grinned.  
I decided to equip my new blade. And when I did some thing surprised me. There was a knife that was equipped with it. Both had the same hilt design and they were really damn reminiscent of my two Shinai. Back in the real world I practised Nito kendo with a friend of mine and even when he left I continued to practise.  
The sheaths were arranged so that the knife was hidden beneath my armpit whilst the main straight sword was sheathed on my back.

"This will make things even easier!" I grinned. "You ready to get those materials?"  
"Yeah" Liz relied smiling.

* * *

**A/N: I know I said I wouldn't be uploading much at the moment but this is what happens when I'm stuck in discovery for 4 lessons straight... (Basically the biggest I.T room in our school, it's where we can go at lunch and it's also where classes are held if there aren't any teachers available to teach a certain class.) it's so god damn boring! The first two lessons were English so I was technically doing work... last lesson was Science and now Art... So I can't really do anything...**

**welp, I may upload more chapters but I may not, it all depends on how much I right and how far my boredom stretches XD **

**Anyway. I got the idea for Tatsu's new weapon from the SAO wiki and how Heathclifs weapons are a set. Also, I'm sorry if Liz was a little OOC... I'll try to work on that for later chapters.**

**see you Next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: Strategy-meeting

**A/N: if your reading this then Thankyou for takimg an interest in my story, it really means a lot to me as if anything I know I'm not a great writer and that's something I'd like to change, however, I can't do that without your help. If you could spare just a little time to point out any mistakes or things I could improve then it would be gratefully appreciated. **

* * *

**Tatsuki**

Ha!" I yelled as I slashed down on the Kobold trooper. We'd only come so little into the Labyrinth partially down to Liz and her skill-level, though so far it's been fun, the last time I partied with someone was a week-ago helping Ao get the Anneal-blade. I've kept Viral posted on Liz as we slowly progressed inwards. Having bought the map-data for this area we knew all the general routes and where to go but we still had to be careful of traps.

Another Ruined Kobold trooper appeared before us, I dashed towards it and fell into the Activation-Stance for Silver-light, a 3-hit combo that I'd recently learnt. The blade of my sword glowed a brilliant white and my body dashed towards the target, first a 360 Degree spin slashing at the Kobold's chest leaving a crimson red gash and a second slash flowing the momentum. The final slash was a full powered and over the head slash from top to bottom.

Sadly this skill didn't kill the monster and I decided to try out something new. I put a few paces between us and drew the knife from it's sheath resting bellow my armpit. The knife was surprisingly long, possibly two ruler lengths (30-60cm).

I flipped it in my hand making sure I held the short blade in a reverse-grip and kicked off the ground heading towards the Kobold.

It drew its Axe behind its body before bringing it down towards me. The Axe head came within inches. However, I used the short blade and paried it away. "Ha!" My legs buckled under the impact yet I recovered and dashed forward thrusting the blade of my Straight-sword into the monsters chest.

It's HP reached zero and the monster shattered into small reflective crystals,disintegrating

My breathing had become ragged due to the danger and I could feel my heart pounding against my rib-cage due to what I faced merely moments before. Though it wasn't really my heart I guessed there was a heartbeat sensor or something and it translated that rhythm to my avatar. So perhaps my body, that is currently lying in a bed had its heart-rate spike.

"I... Need to... Work on my... STR parameter... " if I did it should be possible to parry a monster's strike with the smaller knife. "You know..." I looked up towards the voice from my bent over position. "You're crazy... you know that?" Liz said and I stood up straightening my back. "You know,your the second person to say that." I chuckled "come on" we continued farming for all the materials needed and gathered them all in around 6 hours and by the time we left the dungeon it was close to 11 o'clock at night. "So, do you want to craft the gear tomorrow or when we get back?" I asked my companion, Liz had managed to gain quite a few levels though no where near high enough to constantly fight like I do. Looking at me from beside Liz was my partner Viral. His midnight fur made it close to impossible to discern him from the pitch-black surroundings and only his scarlet-eyes were visible.

Liz was ruffling his fur when I asked. "Hm... How about tomorrow, It's too late now and going out into that tower was tiring." Was her answer and I agreed, crafting at night was not a good idea, somehow there has never been a good weapon to be crafted at dark and only bad ones."thanks for today" she smiled before running off. "Strange girl..." I muttered.

Making my way back to my inn at night is always creepy though definitely not scary. There were barely any players in the streets compared to the day where almost everyone but those who stayed in the starter town.

Opening the front door to the inn I were greeted by two friendly faces, Argo and Kirito. The pair were siting siting at our usual table chatting away. "Hey" I said as I sat down in the third and empty seat.

My cousin and friend looked to me and grinned, there was a look to them that made me worry however I couldn't out my finger on it. "So, who's the girl you were with?" And there it is, that was the look in their eyes.

"W-W-What are you talking about?"I stuttered which only proved they were right. "Come on spit it out" Argo jabbed.

I sighed and explained my day from the moment I met Liz and until I retuned here. "Wait wait! Hold on, what was that about a sword?" Argo asked, Oh.. So that's what she picks up on... I sighed and pulled out my two blades that made up the Wolf-Fang. "Here" I passed them over to her and let her look over it for a few minutes until she returned it. "That's a 'Familiar-Blade'" I blinked, a familiar blade? "What's that, Was it in the Beta?" She shook her head.

"No, apparently it's recently been added in the release. When a player tames a familiar a random-event is generated, if the Tamer completes it then they get a weapon corresponding to their Familiar, apparently Viral's weapon is a set. one Sword and one knife" huh, I finished sheathing the two blades and looked back up. "That set has to be stronger than the Anneal-Blade in terms of strength, have you gotten it appraised yet?"

I scratched the back of my head "nah... I haven't found anyone who's bothered to actually get it" Argo placed her chin on top of her hand...

"Well... If I come across anyone who has one i'll direct them to you" she stood up from her seat and proceeded to climb the stairs "night Ki-bou, Ta-ki" Kirito and I both returned a goodnight and decided to go off to our own rooms. "By the way, you've been considerably quite recently, what's up?" I asked. He wasn't talking mug earlier and he's been disappearing an awful lot recently.

"Oh... Uh, I've been helping this girl..."

"Huh... So, you both took the mick out of me yet... You've been doing something similar!" I playfully punched him on the shoulder and he returned a grin.

"Couldn't help it, sorry" we finally reached our room a and wished each other goodnight.

The next morning I awoke from my slumber, my head resting upon my fluffy pillow, Viral. Yawning I clambered out of the bed waking Viral in the process and equipped my gear. "I wonder if anything interesting'll happen today?..." I muttered to no one in particular. Viral made a couple of lighthearted growls and grinned... I think? Having been fully equipped I motioned for Viral onto my lap and he gladly complied. Something I'd gotten into the Habit of every morning.

Swiping my hand down thus opening my menu I pulled out a comb and began to stroke it through my fury partner's hair. Not what you'd expect I'd do huh? Back home I was always in-charge of looking after our pets. We once had a dog who was loyal, and I mean really loyal. He'd always sleep with me at night, walk me to school then head home and come back just in Time for when I normally came out, If I didn't come out he'd sit at the gate waging his tail. Thinking back he looked almost exactly like Viral... Perhaps that's why I decided to Tame him... Or.. Perhaps the game looked through my memories? Is that even possible?

I sighed, there's no reason why I should get so fixed on this. Finishing combing Viral's hair the two of us left our room and headed for Liz's little store. Once we stepped outside the Inn a couple of familiar faces entered my vision. I grinned and called out to them. "Ao! Reika!" The duo instantly looked at me, grinning in the process. "Oi! How did that date with Liz's go?" Eh... Wait what!

"It wasn't a date! No... More Importantly where did you hear that!" The pair tilted they're heads simultaneously "Argo, where else?" They replied, Of course...

I should never have told Argo any of that last night, I must of been too tired to even think straight. Sigh "well whatever, so how's the Anneal-blade holding up?"

I helped Ao just the other day and although it took from dusk till dawn we finally got the quest-drop. "Hm? Oh it's awesome! Thanks for the help. " that's good, though that's the kind of answer I was expecting... "That's good" i relied.. There was something I wanted to tell them... Uh... oh! I know! "By the way, are you two going to take part in the boss-raid?" The pair turned to each other then returned a blank stare at me "of course we are!" They yelled simultaneously.

"Ok ok you don't have to yell" they both grinned, holding in their laughter though failing miserably.

We caught up and made our separate ways, well, after Reika petting Viral anyway.

I made my way through town and eventually found myself standing before Liz' small shop. Surprisingly the merchant district was empty though I guessed it was due to the time... It was around 5 in the morning. It was now when most support class players set up their shops.

"Yo" I spoke casually raising my hand whilst viral made a friendly bark or howl... Whatever the noise a wolf makes as currently I can't think of what's it's called.

The smith girl looked up at me and smiled, or was that annoyance, well whatever.

"Did you bring the materials?" Liz asked sternly, ok that was definitely annoyance

Either way I sighed and pulled out a bag of all our drops from the day before. "Here it is" dropping the bag just before her I sat down and watched her open the sack, pulling out all the mob-drops that would be useful for crafting. "I'm still amazed we gathered all this in one day..." I heard her mutter, well, it would have been quicker without you though it though it best to hold that comment back.

"So what gear do you want?" The Smithgirl asked.

"I'll take a Chest-plate, Bracers and shinguards, anything more and it'll do me more bad than good."

"You sure about that? Knights are normally slow and covered in armour?" ...

"To begin with I'm not a knight but a Swordsman, there's a pretty big difference" I stuck my tongue out at her and in reply she struck her anvil with head of her hammer. A few minutes later and it was done.

I equipped my new gear trading it out for the old and It certainly made an improvement. The metal of the armour was a Raven-black decorated by a scarlet trim. The five pieces fit nicely beneath my cloak and what's more they were as light as a feather.

"Heh, thanks Liz" a slight blush surfaced yet subsided quickly "do you think you could enhance my new blade?" Her reply was a quick one.

"O-of course" I grinned in thanks and pulled off the sheaths tied to my body that held my two blades that made up the Wolf-Fang.

Laying them over her mat she looked back towards me. "What are we going to use as the materials?" I thought for a second until remembering the other drops from yesterday. "We got a ton yesterday just give me a minute to get them together" swiping my hand down and opening my my menu I noticed in the corner of my eye Viral slowly prowling towards Liz' lap and laying there. I smiled and got back to focusing on my inventory. Organising all the needed items and placing them in a bag I materialised it and dropped it on the mat. "That's all we should need, it's more than Enough for a plus-4 enhancement"

"R-right, how would you like it enhanced?"

"Strength and speed will do " it took a few minutes but the clang of metal reverberating was worth it. "Here" she returned my blade and I slung the sheaths over my body. The knife was sheathed beneath my armpit whilst the main blade was sheathed across my back. "Thanks Liz" standing up and once again opening my menu I sent a trade request other to Liz and Inputted some more Col. However she waved her hands. "T-too much! I'll only take half... B-" she stuttered. "But in return... Your not allowed to use any other Smith" she blush had serviced once more. "S-sure..." Not to sure how to reply to that I slowly inched away. I was about to head off to the Labyrinth when I heard her yell. "Don't you dare die!" Waving my hand I looked over my shoulder letting off a smug grin.

6 days later...

It's reached one month now.. Tomorrow is the day a mass suicide will take place, but only if we can't help it. If we reach the next floor today then we can stop it, and in the process prove that this game can be beaten. I was sitting In the roman amphitheatre, the place where the boss meeting will begin and awaiting my cousin Kirito. Most of the players had already arrived including Argo who was hiding at the top by the massive pillars. Viral was sat beside me curled up asleep.

A familiar face came Into view along with a hooded-player, heh, perhaps this is the girl he'd been hanging around with. Waving my hand and calling them over I noticed another pair of faces, Ao and Reika. The four of them came ups the steps and sat beside me. Kiritos the the other player sat on the other side of Viral whilst Ao and Reika sat beneath us on the steps below. I playfully punched him on the shoulder grinning. "Your still alive huh?" He turned around returning the gesture "same goes to you" we engaged in meaningless chatter, apparently he'd enhanced his Anneal-blade to plus-4 as well. You may be wondering why neither of us had enhanced it more but there's a simple explanation, the material needed is only dropped on the second floor.

Around the time we finished our little chat almost all of the high-level players nicknamed the 'frontliners' which included us had arrived. Two players were standing at the bottom of the Amphitheatre, the closest and most outgoing of the two who I guessed was the one who's going to be the speaker had light blue hair , he wore silver plate armour covering most of his body. Leaning against the wall was the other player, he wore leather Armour and a hood obscured his features. I recognised his armour... I think I'd passed him a few times in town.

Whilst I tried to recall why he was familiar he looked up to me, tho it was impossible to see my features from that distance when I have my hood up my right eye was definitely defined. I grinned inwardly, seeing a player wearing a hood and one Scarlet eye had to be creepy. The Hooded player looked away focusing on the blue haired player he was conversing with who had by then moved to stand in the centre of the Amphitheatre.

"Thank you all for coming here today" the Blue haired guy began "my name is Diavel and my job, is knight!" A ripple of laughter erupted from all the attendees and a few even yelled. "Dude! There is no Job system in this game!" Diavel seemed to take it as a joke himself and went long with them for a few moments until becoming serious once more. "Yesterday- no, a few days ago my party discovered the boss room" everyone had calmed down and gave their un-divided attention. "Is what I'd like to say however, it wasn't is that discovered it but him" he pointed behind him at the hooded player who instantly lowered his Hood even further.

"Before we go any further I'd like everyone to form up Parties, we'll then create a raid-group made up of each of your individual parties" before he even finished his sentence I sent a party invite to the four players around me, each of them accreted instantly... Well, everyone apart from the player Kirito came here with who accepted after a slight hesitation. Four bars had appeared bellow my own displaying the status of each member. I looked at Kirito's friend 'Asuna huh' I guess she's a girl then... either that or a guy who wanted to be a girl at release ,and chose to have a girly name.

Just as Diavel was about to continue a voice boomed from behind. "WAIT!" a tiny man jumped down from the back and into the centre of the Amphitheatre. "The names Kibaou and before we go any further a gotta say som'ing to say" he turned. Facing everyone and yelled once more. "You lot have got to pay!" My brows furrowed at this, who had to pay? "I don't suppose your talking about the Beta- Testers?".

Diavel interjected. "Of course! Those bastards left us for dead! They went up and disappeared, took all the good quests and hunting quests for themselves!" I clenched my fist whilst Kirito looked down with his bangs covering his eyes.

"I bet there are some here!" He continued. "You should drop your head and give up all your money! Beg for forgiveness!" That's it! I stood from my spot and so did another player. A massive man with brown skin, an Axe hung on his axe and he easily gave off an intimidating aura. "Hang on a moment" he pulled out a small leather book, the guide that Argo had put together along with a few other Testers. "My name is Agil and I'd just like to make sure of something, you have a copy of this right? It's on sell in each town." He motioned for the book and realising his intention I returned to sitting.

"Of course" Kibaou muttered. The massive man Agil began to explain.

"So, you're trying to say that all those people died because there was no one around to teach them?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"This guide book here" he hit the small leather cover "was compiled by the beta testers and sold for free" y-your kidding! me and Kirito stood simultaneously and yelled "BUT THIS GUY SOLD IT TO US FOR 200 COL!" Pointing towards Argo, however when we looked towards her we noticed she had conveniently disappeared. The spectators all laughed and we returned our attention to the centre.

Agil continued on, he wasn't going to let up on the subject and I was glad, I knew there were a few Tester haters and it's only going to get worse. But, if there are people like him, then I'm sure it won't get to bad. "Look, this info was available and still is to everyone eye people still died! I thought we were here to make good on their deaths and learn from them!" Everyone was clapping, this guy, he's definitely gonna be well known late on. Kibaou sat down in a huff right next to Agil and Diavel continued on with our Meeting.

"Right then, in truth a new version of the guide book had been published, it says that the boss is called 'Ilfang the Kobold lord' and his minions the 'ruin Kobold sentinels'... " I zoned out for the rest as I've already read the guide already. The boss switches to a different weapon sometime around then last health bar.

"Right then, we'll meet back here tomorrow at 10:00 AM" all the Players began to disperse and so did I and the rest of my party.

* * *

**Thrax**

So the wolf is gonna take part huh? I was just about to leave when Diavel approached me. "Your still gonna take part right?" I lowered my hood a bit more

"Well yeah, I'm not exactly going to skip something so important am I?" There was a look in his eye that I couldn't quite understand however, as quick as it appeared it disappeared. "That's good to here though your going to need a party, why don't you join that Wolf fella?"

"Sure..." I made my out of the Amphitheatre and back to my Inn, I didn't really have anything left to do and I can always join their party tommoro.

* * *

**A/N: what'cha think? **

**before I say anything else I'd just like to say something, this chapter was influened by both the anime and Progressive manga so there will definitly be some differences from what some of you may know. **

**I finnaly decided when the two MC's will meet, in the next chapter. oh and I'm sorry if you prefer Thrax' POV but don't worry, the ext chapter will likely be from his POV for the most if it. **


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